Evidence of meeting #35 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was products.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:05 p.m.
Director of Transportation, Operations, Canada Post Corporation
No, I would suggest that we set very competitive rates. The contracts we’ve signed with the airlines were all tendered through an RFP process. There was a competitive marketplace out there and we used it.
I am not familiar enough with the new program to know about the prices, or what the impact will be under the new program with the airlines.
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
Larry Bagnell Liberal Yukon, YT
Jose, you talked about new funding adjustments at the end of your presentation. I wasn’t sure what you were getting at.
4:05 p.m.
A witness
We are suggesting that Inuit may be subject to drastically increased prices that are not intended by the program. If that is the case, then there should be some sort of relief for Inuit, whether it is through an interim subsidy or an emergency subsidy for items that have to be flown in by air. This has to be worked out with INAC in participation with NTI.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Larry Bagnell Liberal Yukon, YT
Rita, you were right at the end, and I don’t think you were finished your presentation. I will give you the rest of my time so that you can do a bit more of what you were doing.
4:10 p.m.
General Manager, Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec
I wanted to point out that some of the basic things that we enjoy down here in the south will be double or triple the price up north. For example, since we all have children or grandchildren, maybe Heinz ketchup should be the first one on the list. The new selling price will be $13.59 for a 1.25 kilogram weight. Right now I think they are selling at $7 or $6, which is reasonable.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Let's have one more example, and then we have to go on to the next....
4:10 p.m.
General Manager, Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec
Okay.
Another easy one is Pampers. That has to do with cleanliness and hygiene, which has 29 items on the list. The current selling price is $18.69. The selling price will be $20.19. I don't know who in Canada can afford $20 diapers.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Thank you.
Before we go to our next speaker, I'll verify to members and confirm that although the categorization of our meeting seems to be in camera, I can assure members, confirmed by our proceedings and verification officer, that the meeting is being transcribed. It will be a full transcription.
We'll investigate how it ended up in that category. But you can be sure that we're getting full transcription, as we normally do.
Mr. Lévesque, you have seven minutes.
4:10 p.m.
Bloc
Yvon Lévesque Bloc Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
Mr. Joubert, I am very glad to see you here today. Ms. Medve said something that surprised me when she talked about the process that Canada Post uses. If I understand correctly, even if your bid comes in the lowest, you still have to bid under a competitive bidding process. Carriers have to meet certain requirements. I was a bit surprised to hear that it was not the same carrier in every region. I had always been under the impression that it was a single carrier. Please describe briefly your procedure and the requirements carriers have to meet.
4:10 p.m.
Director of Transportation, Operations, Canada Post Corporation
Around 30 carriers provide the shipping to everyone up north. About 23 of those 30 carriers are also responsible for shipping products under the food mail program. Before a contract goes to any of these suppliers, we run a competitive process. A request for proposals is issued. The bids are assessed according to very specific criteria. We have to respect the criteria set out by the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs with respect to the time, date and frequency that the food has to leave the warehouse every week, as well as the delivery location. Under all of Canada Post's contracts, we ship airport to airport. We were responsible for shipping goods from the Val-d'or airport to the Iqaluit airport, but once the food gets to the airport, the merchants or individuals were responsible for picking it up.
There are very strict criteria regarding the quality of the food and the frequency of flight departures from each location, in order to ensure the continuous flow of shipments under the food mail program. We do not do warehouse storage so we can then ship the food only once a week. There are schedules that have to be followed. The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs determines those schedules, and we stick to them very closely.
4:10 p.m.
Bloc
Yvon Lévesque Bloc Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
Did you choose the entry points to the north? If I am not mistaken, there are some in the Northwest Territories.
4:10 p.m.
Director of Transportation, Operations, Canada Post Corporation
There are about 12, including Yellowknife, Whitehorse, Winnipeg, Val-d'Or....
4:10 p.m.
Bloc
Yvon Lévesque Bloc Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
Are you the ones who choose the entry points?
4:10 p.m.
Director of Transportation, Operations, Canada Post Corporation
No, not at all. The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs tells us where we can send shipments under the food mail program.
4:10 p.m.
Bloc
Yvon Lévesque Bloc Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
Did Canadian North bid on the food mail contract?
4:15 p.m.
President, Canadian North
We did submit a bid. We were the lowest-priced bidder, but I would suggest to you that what has not been demonstrated or explained very clearly is that the requisite for beyond just price was quite complex, and the bar is set very high, to the point where I would suggest to you, under the current system, only the incumbent carrier would be in a position to meet all the requirements. Despite a supposedly competitive bidding system, in fact it becomes non-competitive because no one else could ever meet the standards.
Despite the suggestion that there are a multitude of carriers carrying food into the north, I can tell you that First Air is the only carrier that provides carriage of food mail into the Qikiqtani region of Nunavut. They are the only carrier that provides carriage into the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut, and between First Air and Air Inuit, the Mativik companies carry about 85% of the food mail. I'm not sure who all the other carriers are, but I would suggest to you that it is not quite as represented.
4:15 p.m.
Bloc
Yvon Lévesque Bloc Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
So are you saying that if not for Canada Post's criteria, you would be able to provide service at a price comparable to First Air's, as far as meeting those criteria goes?
4:15 p.m.
President, Canadian North
What I'm saying is that in order to meet some of the criteria--and I'm talking primarily about ground-based infrastructure and storage facilities and what have you--because of the cost of building those kinds of structures in the north and the lack of availability of spare space, you would have to have all that in place to qualify to be eligible to carry the food. It's putting the cart before the horse. Canadian North had a plan to invest in all those ground-based infrastructure requirements, and we had the lowest price, so yes, we could compete on price with First Air exactly or better.
4:15 p.m.
Bloc
Yvon Lévesque Bloc Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
Mr. Joubert, we heard Mr. Fogarty say that right now, an independent retailer is supplying northern communities directly. Up to now, he has been eligible in terms of the products he ships up north, well most of them, anyways.
Under the program we are currently considering, nutrition north Canada, would Mr. Fogarty be able to pay the same price he does now to ship his products?
4:15 p.m.
Director of Transportation, Operations, Canada Post Corporation
I am not in a position to comment on the new program because I do not know enough about it. My focus is still the program we have been charged with until March 31.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Thank you, Mr. Lévesque.
Mr. Fogarty, would you like to respond briefly?
4:15 p.m.
President, Marché central du Nord
He cannot answer the question, and I am not sure whether madam can either, but we are eager to find out. We want to know what will happen. What are we supposed to tell our customers when they ask us what will happen in April 2011? It is fast approaching, and we have no answers. We are eager to find out what will happen.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
I'm not sure those kinds of questions are necessarily for our members here today, but we'll get the questions coming from this side and we'll try it that way.
Let's go to Ms. Crowder for seven minutes.
4:15 p.m.
NDP
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I want to thank the witnesses for coming today.
I'd like to start with Mr. Kusugak. You raised a number of important points, and we have heard from other witnesses some concerns around understanding what the implications will be for people. One of the things I hear you saying quite clearly is that NTI must be involved in the process. Have you had any involvement with the discussion around what the advisory board would look like?